Beach Club By Haad Tien

“Nice, quiet, beautiful beach villas here.”

We stayed here for 3 nights in 3 different rooms. The location is isolated from the village & the 3 star type of lodging, making logistics a bit costly. A taxi ride anywhere costs 400 Baht. But this resort isn't for those on a budget. The hotel style room was nice. Basic layout with everything one … more

We stayed here for 3 nights in 3 different rooms. The location is isolated from the village & the 3 star type of lodging, making logistics a bit costly. A taxi ride anywhere costs 400 Baht. But this resort isn't for those on a budget. The hotel style room was nice. Basic layout with everything one needs. The grass bungalow (504) was nice, with a king bed & mini fridge. The tv had many options, but this isn't the kind of place where one sits in the room & watches movies. I found the bathroom lacking a toilet sprayer, & there were no hand towels, or washcloths. The deck out front had futon style cushions on it for lounging. It was nice during the day, but at night a solar powered light came on & I doubt that there was a switch for it, (at least I couldn't find one). I couldn't lay on my back without 3000 lumens of light blazing down on my face. The beachfront Villa was super sweet! It had all the cool things that were missing in 504. The view from the deck was the best! I could literally walk 20 steps to the clear turquoise ocean. There were small black tip sharks foraging on the shoreline one morning. The mattress was good but for the price could've been better. The poolside service was acceptable. We had mango, pineapple, & banana smoothies which were delicious. The breakfast buffet was very good. The omelet guy had his game finely tuned. He was putting out beautiful tasty omelets in about 2 minutes each. He also crisped up my bacon for me. Lydia at the reception desk was an absolute angel. She saw to our every whim, dispatching transportation, bell services, & other services. This resort stay was wonderful. We saw green turtles in the bay, & took full advantage of the free kyaks & snorkeling gear. The upper reception desk is a climb. There's a lower drop off/pickup spot that we learned about from Lydia. It made things much easier. Overall, this is a resort that is priced on the upper end of the scale, & as such, there's a level of expectation that wasn't met each & every time. Some of the waitstaff lacked the proper training & language skills necessary for my liking, but I'm giving The Beach Club by Haad Tien 5 stars, & I will most certainly return.

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“Beautiful property”

The grounds of the property are absolutely beautiful. The beach is clean, the pools and grounds are well maintained and the rooms are clean and spacious. The property is a bit away from town and walking is not an option (due to heat and height differences) but they have a shuttle to the port and a … more

The grounds of the property are absolutely beautiful. The beach is clean, the pools and grounds are well maintained and the rooms are clean and spacious. The property is a bit away from town and walking is not an option (due to heat and height differences) but they have a shuttle to the port and a popular beach. The breakfast was great. The food is overall expensive and not the greatest, but not terrible either. Great service by the staff. I booked a Hideaway villa and there was a huge gecko in there the first night, called front desk and they sent a guy who was very experienced and snapped it right up.

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“Secluded, picturesque and relaxed”

The start of our stay at Beach Club was rather fraught as one of our cases went missing between BKK and Samui, meaning we were delayed reaching the ferry to Koh Tao and missed it by 15 minutes meaning another two hour wait - which did not improve our mood after 14 hours of travel from the UK. Anyw… more

The start of our stay at Beach Club was rather fraught as one of our cases went missing between BKK and Samui, meaning we were delayed reaching the ferry to Koh Tao and missed it by 15 minutes meaning another two hour wait - which did not improve our mood after 14 hours of travel from the UK. Anyway, having reached the resort we were efficiently welcomed in and led to our room on the corner of the first floor above the pool and beach bar. The view from this room was really wonderful - looking across the bay over the balcony, but out to sea from the side windows. Bedroom : The room itself was what could be described as minimalist, if not sparse. The decor is a sort of modern rural style, but very lightly furnished. Apart from one wardrobe, there was no other closed storage in either the bedroom or the bathroom. This meant that all the usual travel accoutrements had to be either left on the few shelves available or kept in the cases or bags they arrived in. No bedside cabinets, no desk or chair, no freestanding table or easy chairs. Maybe we are spoiled but we also missed having bathrobes supplied - not essential, but nice, as we don't habitually pack them as they are so bulky. Unexpectedly the missing case arrived later on our first evening - by which time all available horizontal surfaces had been used up so most of its contents remained within for the duration of our stay. The bed was firm but comfortable, there was a window bay with a spare bed/sofa which was useful for lounging, and a sofa on the balcony, of which we made frequent use. The aircon worked acceptably, albeit requiring a lot of tinkering to find a neutral setting under which it stopped emitting a vocabulary of clicks, whirrs and whooshes - "automatic" is not always the best choice! To help find a comfortable sleeping temperature, we asked for a separate sheet to use in place of a duvet, as it seemed crazy to cool the room down only to sleep under a quilt. A small refrigerator was supplied, which kept the regularly-replenished bottled water at a very acceptable temperature. The TV would have been useful if only it had anything other than local stations, or the ability to link to mobile in order to make use of the free (and thankfully stable) WiFi. One important note about the room equipment is that the power sockets are all doubles but only accept US/EU plugs and have their active pins aligned vertically. This can at times become a bit of a problem with devices like mains adapter that have their cable normally exiting upwards, now effectively occupying a whole double socket, or, as we found, a mosquito repellent vaporiser being unusable as it could not be plugged in upright. Bathroom : The bathroom - or rather, shower room - was well-finished, large enough and reasonably usefully laid out, altough a separate toilet would be...more convenient. Shampoo, shower gel and soap were supplied, and the shower itself was very effective. Like the bedroom, it had no closed storage, only the washbasin table, which was therefore unavoidably cluttered. I have to insert my usual rant at the people who design hotel bathrooms for not understanding that overhead lighting is useless when shaving, especially so forwet shaving. Facilities : The main pool was very welcome, nicely kept and close too the bar so it was easy to laze around with a drink and then drop into the pool when the heat got too much. Happy hour drinks were particularly welcome, and it was never difficult to get the attention of the staff for a refill. We did not use the upper pool, which looked really suitable for quiet lounging, but too far from the bar for us... Another great area was the tree-shaded area of circular loungers behind the beach, which kept the sun sufficiently shielded that you could read without too much fear of scorching. The resort keeps its section of the beach clean and tidy, by daily patrols and sweeping - much approved! Breakfast at the central restaurant offered a menu that was up to standard for a hotel of this type, and compared well to mainland establishments (our last stay in Thailand being in the Krabi area, and this was easily as good) providing a kind of "Universal International Breakfast" and then local and Western dishes for lunch and dinner. Prices are, I think, reflective of the "captive audience" situation, though you can wade across to the "Rocky Kitchen" adjacent to the pool area, or slog up the hill for 10 minutes to the "Fasai Thai Food" cafe if you fancy a change. We took advantage of the Beach Barbecue special meal, taking a chance on the weather, which we both enjoyed (steak for one, tiger prawns for the other) and it elevated the meal - I would say "romantic" but that's a stretch at our age. There was a poolside cinema evening with snacks, which provided a pleasant diversion - LaLa Land with added chicken satay...lovely. We also made use of the hotel's free shuttle bus...well...truck...to visit Sairee Beach a couple of times, which gave us a chance to find different food and drink options, plus some sensibly priced drinks - even cider!!! Staff : The staff were attentive without being intrusive, and always helpful, which is exactly the balance you need. There when you want them, but not hovering around making you feel uncomfortable. Special thanks go to young Su - charmingly-enthusiastic seller of add-on services. Warnings! NOT a criticism of the resort at all, but... This bay is surrounded on all sides by steep slopes, making it very visually appealing, but there are lots of steps around the site, the accommodation is on multiple levels, and so it is NOT recommended for anyone with limited mobility or energy. The shuttle truck became an essential escape for us, as, in spite of extensive evidence of the absolute wonder of Shark Bay as a snorkeling site, which is what drew us there, nobody tells you that it is WEATHER DEPENDENT. In the week that we were there, the wind was relentlessly blowing from the South or South-east, which drives silt and sand into the bay. This made snorkeling pointless as visibility was less than a metre. The shuttle allowed us to have a change of scene without racking up a fortune in taxi bills or risking a hospital visit via a scooter accident. Summary : On balance a pleasant place to stay, lovely location, nice grounds and adequate accommodation. Staff were friendly and helpful. A few changes would improve the experience - more storage in the room, some international TV content, some subdued live music in keeping with the "laid back" vibe of the place, bathrobes...

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